Eco-friendly mice and granite PCs

Top kit for tree-huggers

CeBIT If you love the smell of timber in the morning, then Swedish company Swedx may have just the thing for you. The company unveiled its new range of wooden mice at CeBIT, where you can enjoy them in Hall 21 (stand 56) until Wednesday.

Every mouse is lovingly crafted from one piece of wood - including the buttons - but somehow the company has managed to squeeze in all the essential electronics. Swedx offers both optical USB (the XM1-series) and Optical Wireless (the XMW1-series) mice.

The company started manufacturing back in 1995, but it wasn't until 2000 that Swedx began hewing TFT-LCD monitor cases from solid wood. Later came keyboards and mice. All products are made of three types of wood: ash from the US, beech from Germany and sapele from Africa.

The company says that people are tired of plastic and want "to return to the real thing". Punters seem to like the company's products because they're eco-friendly - at present Swedx is selling 3,000 of its wooden monitors every month, particularly in Spain and Luxembourg.

However, Swedx is not the only outfit deploying the block plane and spokeshave. German company Holzkantor, which roughly translates as "Wooden office", also imports American wood to make PC housings. They even do a stone version - a mixture of natural minerals and acrylic.

Extremely silly? Maybe not. If a stone TV is good enough for the Flintstones, then why not consider a reconstituted granite PC for that must-have Bedrock chic? ®